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Gatlantean (2199)
This article describes the Gatlantean species as depicted in ''Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and its sequels. For the species' counterpart in Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato and Space Battleship Yamato 2, see Gatlantean (OS).'' : Gatlanteans, also known as Gatlantis, are a humanoid species originally from the planet Zemulia that later established a home on the Ark of Destruction. Unlike other sapient races with which they have had contact, Gatlanteans are an entirely artificial people, created to fight wars on behalf of their Zemulian masters. Following an uprising against the Zemulians, Gatlanteans eventually go on to build the Gatlantis Empire, which briefly becomes a threat to the existence of multiple civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy and nearby satellite galaxies. Biology Gatlantean physiology is similar in many ways to that of humans, Garmillas, Zaltz, the Zemulians that created them, and other humanoids. Members of the species all have green skin of a uniform shade. The origins of Gatlantians as a race manufactured for war can be seen in DNA that shows clear indicators of intentional modification, and abilities such as enhanced strength and increased resistance to explosions and intense heat. Among Gatlanteans, a lifespan exceeding one thousand years is possible ("Prison Planet 17", Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark, "Tension – Reach the Embassy on the Moon", "Gatlantis, the Cursed Children"). Some portion of the Gatlantis population is also equipped with a biological self-destruct, turning their bodies into powerful explosives; soldiers will self-destruct when faced with defeat in battle or capture ("Tension – Reach the Embassy on the Moon", "Battle to the Death – The 11th Planet Rescue Operation", "The Terezart Landing Operation – Crush the Enemy Missile Fleet!"). Only males exist among the Gatlantis, preventing them from increasing their numbers outside of cloning. However, sexual reproduction with females of other species is possible, as happened between Zworder and Shifual Sabera, a Zemulian woman. Genetic engineering can be used to create females with Gatlantean and non-Gatlantean traits ("[[The Shocking White Comet Empire - The Yamato Rams Through!|The Shocking White Comet Empire - The Yamato Rams Through!]]", "The Terezart Landing Operation – Crush the Enemy Missile Fleet!", "Gatlantis, the Cursed Children"). Variants All Gatlantis individuals belong to one of a number of variant clone types, fulfilling all the services needed to maintain the Gatlantis Empire, from leaders to fighters to technical specialists to domestic servants and caregivers. Each type shares DNA and some physical and psychological characteristics. Although members of a particular variant can be perfect genetic copies (known as "pure bodies"), age, experience, and possibly other factors can lead to different appearances. Members of a variant may have narrowly defined roles, or they may take on a broad range of duties ("The Terezart Landing Operation – Crush the Enemy Missile Fleet!", "Warriors of Love"). : One example of the potential for diversity within each variant is the so-called Zworder type, members of which have telepathic abilities and mental capacities beyond those of other Gatlanteans, assume different kinds of executive roles within the Gatlantis Empire. Zworder himself, instigator of the rebellion against the Zemulians, becomes emperor of the Gatlantean nation. Gairen, an apparently elder individual within the Zworder type, controls the flow of information to Zworder and serves as a member of his ruling council. A third individual of the type, a young adult version named Miru, is a spokesperson and can be used as the literal eyes and ears of the emperor, providing him with direct information from almost anywhere via Cosmo Wave ("Gatlantis, the Cursed Children", "[[Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato|Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato]]"). Another example is the Goland type, which has a long history of service to the empire. At least one Goland commits significant time to mentoring a younger individual of the type, Nol, to become his eventual successor and the twentieth of his line to command forces in battle. When both are killed, the surviving elder Goland, Zaizen, takes custody of an infant Goland to begin his own preparation ("Bewitching - The Space Fireflies Beckon a Crisis", "The Terezart Landing Operation – Crush the Enemy Missile Fleet!"). History The Servants Rebel The Gatlantean species began as a race of soldiers designed to fight on behalf of their creators. For their part, Zemulian civilization as a whole showed very little concern or respect for the well-being of their creations, considering them to be no better than "farm animals with a humanoid body and green skin" capable only of "hostility and loyalty." The divide between master and servant was solidified by a taboo against any close interaction between Zemulians and Gatlanteans. A member of one of the most advanced Gatlantis variants, Zworder, broke the taboo. In his youth, Zworder came to love a Zemulian woman, Shifual Sabera, conceived a child with her, and soon began a campaign to free all of his fellow Gatlanteans from their servitude. During the ensuing war, Sabera and her infant were captured and turned into hostages. Zworder's love for both of them drove him to betray his people by confessing how to defeat his people. The victorious Zemulians, seeing Sabera as a traitor and a "witch," broke their promise to Zworder and murdered both her and her child. Sometime before the year 1100 CE, they allowed Zworder and the few surviving Gatlantis to leave Zemulia ("Gatlantis, the Cursed Children"). An Empire of Genuine Love :For more details, see Gatlantis Empire. The exiled Gatlanteans wandered space for more than a century in a quest to find the legendary Ark of Destruction, a planet-sized artifact created by the ancient Aquarius species for the purpose of wiping out entire races if they became a serious threat to life in the universe. By this time, the pain of Zworder's experience led him to conclude that the original Gatlantean way of living was correct; the Gatlantis were a new type of people destined to free others from the "sin of loving" and other emotions. He and his followers eventually found the Ark, built their home upon it, and learned how to activate and control its systems. The Gatlantis returned to the stars in fleets of ships and in the Ark itself to save life in the universe from its own delusions in favor of what Emperor Zworder called a "genuine love" ("Zworder, the Devil's Alternative", "Gatlantis, the Cursed Children"). : The Gatlantis Empire's expansion resulted in the destruction of civilizations and of whole worlds. A few of the worlds where they annihilated all life--including the homeworld of the Gatlanteans themselves, Zemulia--were captured and contained inside the structure of the Ark. Before the year 2199, the Gatlantis Empire had become engaged in a prolonged war with the Great Garmillas Empire, and another conflict with a powerful new ally of Garmillas, the Earth Federation, by late 2202 ("A World I Once Saw", "Zurvival's Fierce Assault - Find Teresa", "Gatlantis, the Cursed Children"). The Gatlantis Empire eventually brought the war against both adversaries to the planet Earth, but a final battle gave an Earth battleship and members of its crew a chance to infiltrate the Ark and confront Zworder personally. Seeing that his position was lost, Zworder shut down all Gatlanteans in an attempt to remake himself and the Ark into a new kind of weapon. This last, radical attempt failed and Gatlantean civilization was lost forever ("''Yamato'', Attack the Comet Empire!", "[[Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato|Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato]]"). Culture and Society Although Gatlantis develop biologically in much the same way that children of other humanoid species do, their social practices around growing up and aging are distinct. From infancy to adolescence, individual clones are known as "larva bodies." During this phase, a Gatlantean is raised by his predecessor. The adult usually provides only physical care with little emotional engagement, but in exceptional cases, the adult may take it upon himself to serve as a mentor. Because Gatlanteans may interpret this as an act of ego on the part of the adult, it is rarely done. Upon reaching adulthood, a Gatlantean takes the name of his predecessor and assumes his predecessor's duties. If the Gatlantean survives long enough to retire from combat, he assumes a new name and becomes a caregiver for the next in his line ("The Terezart Landing Operation – Crush the Enemy Missile Fleet!", "Battle off the Coast of Saturn - Gather the Wave Motion Gun Fleet!"). Gatlanteans exist first and foremost for war, and those who fight come to expect only two possible outcomes from battle for themselves: victory or death. Those who are not captured or killed may be driven into an uncontrollable rage. This uncompromising view of war extends to their opponents; under most conditions, Gatlantis commanders who are offered unconditional surrender may be genuinely confused by it. Only when an enemy can provide a highly valuable service, such as scientific and technological insight, will they be spared death (Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark, "Battle to the Death – The 11th Planet Rescue Operation", "The Trap at Planet Stravase!", "Dessler's Challenge!"). Technology Until late 2199, Gatlantis military technology was easily outclassed by forces of the Great Garmillas Empire; Gatlantean soldiers were captured in significant numbers and kept as prisoners of war, and Gatlantean ships were easily destroyed by Garmillan fleets in engagements such as the Battle of the Small Magellanic Cloud Outskirts ("Wish Upon a Star", "A World I Once Saw", "Prison Planet 17"). Unbeknownst to the Garmillas, the "barbarian" Gatlanteans were quickly erasing and surpassing their technological deficit partly by capturing enemy personnel and forcing them to serve as science slaves who would go on to re-create and adapt Garmillan weapons, Garmilloid robots, and devices such as the instant matter transporter for their own use[http://ourstarblazers.com/vault/956/ Threat of the Flame Strike Gun, Tragedy of the Garmillas Science Slaves, translated in "The Yamato 2199 Secret Files"][http://yamato2202.net/character_mechanic/index2.html Space Battleship Yamato 2202 official website data on Needleslaves] (Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark, "Zurvival's Fierce Assault - Find Teresa"). The Gatlantis also sought out the technology of other civilizations to take for themselves (Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark). The most devastating of Gatlantis' military technological gains was made when Zworder discovered and learned how to activate the Ark of Destruction. Also known as the White Comet due to the swirling energy field it could generate around itself, the Ark could obliterate planets as large as Saturn and contain smaller worlds inside a cage-like structure. It could also manipulate hypergravity and use it as a striking weapon against individual vessels, or project it broadly to destabilize and pull down entire fleets. The Ark granted Gatlanteans the ability to grow ships--not build them mechanically--on a scale that often dwarfed the capacity their adversaries. Under emergency circumstances, "premature" ships could be deployed as weapons. Over centuries, Gatlanteans learned how to make increasingly powerful warships; during their final war, the Gatlantis Empire launched several new ship classes within a period of just a few months ("[[The Shocking White Comet Empire - The Yamato Rams Through!|The Shocking White Comet Empire - The Yamato Rams Through!]]", "Gatlantis, the Cursed Children", "''Yamato'', Attack the Comet Empire!"). Gatlanteans demonstrated a variety of other abilities involving biology. Their extensive cloning technology could go beyond making perfect genetic copies and be used to incorporate new traits, including those from outside the original's species ("Tension – Reach the Embassy on the Moon", "[[The Shocking White Comet Empire - The Yamato Rams Through!|The Shocking White Comet Empire - The Yamato Rams Through!]]", "The Terezart Landing Operation – Crush the Enemy Missile Fleet!", "Gatlantis, the Cursed Children"). After initial difficulties, the Gatlantis learned how to clone a deceased individual with the original's full consciousness intact ("Gatlantis, the Cursed Children"). Dead humanoids could be reanimated and used for infiltration and sabotage, and living humanoids could have their minds and bodies hijacked for similar purposes ("The Beam of Light Flashes! / Radiance of the Wave Motion Gun", "Zworder, the Devil's Alternative", "Warriors of Love"). Gatlanteans also demonstrated advanced capabilities in medicine, offering a drug to humans that could cure Planet Bomb Syndrome, a terminal illness that had defied years of effort to treat ("Saturn's Offshore Battle - Gather the Wave Motion Fleet", "Warriors of Love"). Gatlanteans appear to be unconcerned with or incapable of repairing damaged technology. During the Battle of the Eleventh Planet, a mass of ''Calaklum''-class battleships that are incapacitated but outwardly undamaged float helpless in space for an extended period ("The Trap at Planet Stravase!"). The crews eventually figure out how to make crude repairs that enable a few of the vessels to leave, but with serious flaws that end up destroying a number of the ships en route ("Dessler's Challenge!"). Despite the vast technological advances made by Gatlanteans, one device formed the foundation of their existence from the very beginning: the golem. Built by the Zemulians as a last line of defense against their creations, the golem could immediately terminate the functions of every Gatlantean who had not been corrupted by emotion. Zworder stole this device from his former masters, and kept it beneath his throne aboard the Ark of Destruction ("Gatlantis, the Cursed Children", "[[Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato|Farewell, Space Battleship Yamato]]"). Language The Gatlantis continue to use the language of the Zemulians as their own ("Gatlantis, the Cursed Children"). The language includes a number of recent loan words, like the Garmillan word "Terron" initially adopted for humans in the months following first contact with the species. At least one spaceship, the Megaluda, displays written Gatlantean on its hull. Both the Great Garmillas Empire and the Earth Federation have data on the Gatlantis language and can translate it through communications equipment (Space Battleship Yamato 2199: Odyssey of the Celestial Ark). Notable Individuals :See Category: Gatlanteans (2199) Characters Gallery Image:Gatlantis ship leaves Zemulia.png|The defeated Gatlantean rebels are exiled from Zemulia. Image:Goland past and future.png|An elder Gatlantean of the Goland line receives his newly created pure blood clone from a young adult caregiver. Image:Gatlantean hospitality.jpg|Two examples of Gatlantis servants attending to higher-ranked Gatlanteans. Image:Megaluda hull writing closeup.png|Gatlantean writing on the port side of the Megaluda References Japanese language information ガトランティス人 Gatorantisu Hito Category:Sapient species Category:Life forms Category:Gatlanteans (2199) Category:Extinct